Thursday, November 06, 2008

No Longer the Indian of the Group: RIP Jimmy Carl Black

Listening to We’re Only In It For The Money, one of the largest jewels in the extensive crown that is Frank Zappa’s legacy, the spoken quote, “Hi Boys and Girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black, and I'm the Indian of the group" springs up here and there and is one of the more memorable aspects of the album.

Jimmy Carl Black, indeed of Cheyenne heritage, was Zappa’s drummer in the original Mothers Of Invention. Having been diagnosed with lung cancer, Jimmy passed away on Saturday, November 1st at the age of 70.

After the Mothers dissolved, Jimmy did continue to work with Zappa on a sporadic basis, appearing in his movie, 200 Motels and working on later albums like 1981’s You Are What You Is. He also worked with two Zappa-based tribute bands, The Grandmothers and The Muffin Men in addition to numerous other bands. Last year, he recorded an autobiography called, The Jimmy Carl Black Story.